20 Glamorous Publicity Portraits Taken by László Willinger for “The Women” (1939)

László Willinger, a renowned Hungarian-born photographer, took many of the publicity photos for the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Women. These photographs featured the film's prominent stars, including Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell.

The primary purpose of these publicity photos was to promote the film and its stars. In the Golden Age of Hollywood, studio photographers like Willinger were crucial in creating the public image of actors and generating buzz for upcoming releases. His work aimed to produce images that the press would choose to print, thereby maximizing exposure for The Women.

Willinger worked in his Hollywood studio, where he photographed many of MGM’s top stars. He was known for his ability to capture compelling portraits, using lighting, costumes, and emotion to create images that would effectively “sell” the film and its performers to the public.

There are anecdotes about the ‘diva behavior” of Shearer and Crawford during these photo sessions, as they reportedly tried to outmaneuver each other to be the last to arrive, a testament to the intense rivalry that existed between them and which was subtly played upon in the film’s marketing.